Purpose: To promote understanding of the business need and to provide information to decisionmakers for resources and staff to further

investigate the need/solution. This information is gathered during the Opportunity Assessment by the business partner and refined in the Initiating Process. <Utilize the blank template on the Web, or delete the instructions on this document. >

PROJECT IDENTIFICATION
PROJECT IDENTIFICATION - PROJECT SPECIFICS
Project Name Project Number Date Created

Project Sponsor

Project Owner

Program Manager

Project Manager

Completed by

PROJECT REQUEST
REQUEST SUMMARY
Description of Business Need high-level description of the business need, this is the explanation, not solution. This should include the vision and purpose of the project.

< Describe the reason this initiative should continue and be further refined. It should contain the key points necessary to convey an understanding of the request. This area describes the Justification of the project. Included in the business need should be the vision and purpose. Vision is a shared mental picture that gives form to the future. The purpose is a statement of Why the project exists. It describes the unique value the project will bring to the clients and customers, i.e., to define, recommend, deploy, develop, manage, modify, enhance, purpose of staying in business. >

HIGH LEVEL BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS REQUIREMENTS OF THE PROJECT

<Identify the major business requirements that must be considered for completion. Key business requirements, which are refined in the Initiating Process, represent the high level objectives of the organization or client requesting the solution. The detailed functional, nonfunctional, user or system requirements should be documented in the Requirement Specification Document or Software Requirement Specification Document as needed. >

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS - USED TO DETERMINE IF THE PROJECT IS SUCCESSFUL

<Identify the critical success factors that highlight what has to happen for the project to be considered successful. The project manager with input from the program manager identifies the associated critical success factors. Be sure to incorporate stakeholder and senior management factors of success, i.e., disruption during implementation will be at a minimum. In addition, this could be the date the service/product is needed by the client/user to ensure success. >

Primary Clients requesting organization

Users individuals or organizations that will be using the system/product

< Document the organization requesting the projects product or service. >

< Document the types of users and the number of those using the proposed system/product. This could be individuals or organizations. User classes are different groups of people who might use different subsets of features, have different frequencies of use, or have different educational and experience levels. Be sure to include external customers and suppliers, who will interact with the system. <Be sensible, not every name needs to be listed, just list the business unit or organization. >

BENEFITS
Tangible these are benefits that can be measured in actual dollar return

< List the benefits of the solution in bullet form. Describe the tangible benefits. Tangible benefits are concrete real, quantitative measures, i.e., cycle times reduced by 15%, inventory reduced by 10%, saving $2 million over 5 years after installation, 10% reduction in load time, 20% more file storage, better efficiency measured by reduced mistakes over a period of time and number of users. Some key words to use are: cost reduction, reduce, eliminate, higher rate of, repeat business, and revenue increase. For more detail, refer to the Business Case Template.>
Intangible challenging to quantify, but beneficial

< List the benefits of the solution in bullet form. Describe the intangible benefits. Intangible benefits are often difficult to measure, i.e., improved satisfaction, competitive positioning, good will, and strategic initiative. Some key words to use are: longer, shorter, faster, more, less, better, automatic, enhanced, and streamlined.>
Related Projects/ Affected Systems

< Identify the systems, projects, people and/or organizations along with the associated locations that will be affected or impacted by the proposed need/solution, i.e., HEI Liaisons, HEI Data reporters, etc.>

PROJECT STAKEHOLDERS INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS WHO HAVE INTEREST IN THE PROJECT
Name Title Area

< Identify the organization, department, and agency names that represent stakeholders involved in the project. Stakeholders are organizations whose interests may positively or negatively impact the completion of the project, i.e., Department of Administrative Services. Note: Identification is necessary to manage and influence those expectations for success. Indicate organizations that will have crucial responsibilities for the project or will be affected by project outcomes. Also include external consultants or vendors. These participants should be identified in Opportunity Assessment and the list further refined in the Planning Process. >

< List the Business Unit for each stakeholder, i.e., Purchasing, Sales, Distribution, and Accounting. >

NECESSARY TO PROCEED
Next Phase Activities/Resources resources to move to the next phase(s), Initiating

<Describe the activities of the next phase and when a decision is critical. This just describes scope, schedule and milestones of what is set to be accomplished in the next phase, Initiating. The goal is to be able to gauge monies and resources. These will also be tracked if the project does not continue. > <Describe the resources (inside and outside of your organization) that will be required to complete the next phase of the project. List the number of resources, PCs, space, and dollars to complete the next phase. Keep in mind, sometimes consultants are needed for identification of requirements going forward or to assist in gauging the effectiveness of the current proposed plan against industry standards and these resources would also need to be documented. This area also should describe additional knowledge, training, and skills the team will need to achieve the proposed objectives. >

APPROVAL
Name Title Date Approved

<List the Name.>

<List the title of the person listed.>

<Use the format mm/dd/yy, to document the date the request was approved. >

<Yes, No or pending>

<Gather signatures if applicable. >